You have a right to get legally married for £56
In 1954 my mum and dad got married for a few pounds. Getting married at a Register Office on a shoestring is an honourable working-class tradition which you can still do for £56. You make an appointment at the Register Office, pop in with two witnesses to see a registrar, say a few words and sign some forms and that’s it, you’re married.
It’s called a “statutory ceremony”. But, surprise, surprise, it’s not quite that easy. Here’s the catch …
Your local Registration Service (they’re part of big local authorities like County Councils and London Boroughs) will probably try to bamboozle you into paying several hundred pounds to hire a big room in the council offices for a short ceremony with guests as well as witnesses, some music and the odd poem, or have a registrar come out to a posh venue and do it there for a similar cost. I guess you can’t blame them, lots of local authorities are broke and this is easy money.
But it’s equally your right to have a £56 ceremony if that’s all you want to pay! Here’s what to do …
If you want a £56 ceremony find your local Registration Service on the web and tell them you want a “statutory ceremony”. They will probably tell you it’s only available one day a week at an out of the way office and there’s a months’ long waiting list. If the wait is OK for you then book it. If it’s too long you can actually go to any Registration Service, so shop around with the neighbouring local authorities until you find one that has a date that works for you.
Once you’ve booked the ceremony you must both then give “notice of marriage” with the Registration Service in the area where you live (not necessarily the one you booked the ceremony with). You do this by making an appointment and going into the office at least 28 days before your ceremony (but the earlier the better really). This costs £42 each.
The total cost is £84 to give notice, plus £56, oh and another £12.50 for a marriage certificate, so £152.50 in total, and that’s it. You can then just live happily ever after or if you like you can have a lovely personal wedding ceremony with someone like me, anywhere you want, from your mum and dad’s back garden to a castle in Italy!
The right to get married for a small standard fee is a long and honourable democratic tradition. If it’s what you want, then do it with pride and don’t let the registrars fob you off!
